TRADE CONTRAST

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIII, Issue 77, 13 March 1933, Page 8

TRADE CONTRAST

RETURNS FOR TEN YEARS CHANCE IN AUSTRALIA. POSITION OF NEW ZEALAND, Complete returns of Australia’s overseas trade in 1932 are pow available. They show that, including a large shipment of gold from reserves, exports exceeded imports in British currency values, by £32,553,000, which was £3.5784)00 les* than the balance for 1831. External trade of Australia and New Zealand was affected by abnormal conditions during the period of the war and several succeeding years. Until the end of 1919, exports were inflated by wartime prices and the disorganisation shipments. Then came the post-war Mump, producing the flood of importations which virtually extinguished the favourable balances accumulated during the preceding period. Its reactions continued into 1922, so that 1923 may be regarded as the first leasonably normal trading year after the war. During each of the next seven years Australian trade showed an adverse balance, but by drastic curtailment of imports, large favourable balances have been produced in each of the last three years. Following is a summary of the official returns for the decade:—

An adverse balance has appeared in th* New Zealand returns only once in the decade, and the favourable balance for the period is more than double that of Australia, though the volume of trade is only about one-third. Beturns for the full period are:—

Whereas Australia’s imports in the decade were equivalent to 98 per cent, of the imports, New Zealand’s proportion was 89 per cent. To have produced a result comparable with the position disclosed by the Australian returns, New Zealand would have increased her imports by £37,865.000 and reduced her apparent favourable balance to £9,380,000. Returns for the seven years from 1923 to 1929 show that Australia had an excess of imports of nearly ££7,000,000; in the last three years, •xports have exceeded imports by £89,000,000. New Zealand showed a favourable balance of £27,662,000 for the first seven years and increased it i by 19,585,000 in the last three years.

AUSTRALIAN TRADE. Excess of Tear. Exports. Imports. Imports. £ £ £ 1923 113,851,749 136.276.321 22.424,572 1924 141,793,457 145,466,485 3,673.028 1925 157,202.462 159,124,920 1,922,458 1926 145,724,747 158.666,032 12,941,285 1927 146,423,583 161.647,635 15,224.052 1928 138,579,146 139.964,649 1,385,503 1929 136.278,881 145.673,219 9.394.338 1930 114,932.694 94.730,512 •20,202.182 19517 .... 80.043,000 43,910,513 •36.133,000 I932t .... 86.683,000 54.127,899 •32,555,000 Totalg i .. 1,261,512,719 1,239,588,185 •Excess of exports. •British currency values. 21,924,946

NEW ZEALAND TRADE. Excess of Exports. Imports. Exports, £ £ £ irs 45,967.165 43,378,493 2.588.672 1924 52.612,711 48.527.603 4,085,108 1925 55.262.272 52.456,407 2,805,865 1926 A5.ZI5.575 49.889.563 •4,613.988 1927 48.496,354 44.782.946 3,713,408 1928 56,188,481 44.886,266 11,302,215 1929 . 55,579,063 48.797,977 6,781,086 1930 44,940,692 43.025,914 1,914,778 1931f 31,852.000 24,157,000 7,695,000 W32t 32,372,000 22.397.000 9,975.000 Totals ... 469.546,313 422.299,169 47,247,144 •Excess of imports. tBritieh currency value*.